Mariah Carey received a toast worthy of a queen at the Billboard Music Awards on Wednesday night. Taking home an award for “Icon,” she also sang a medley of some of her biggest hits including “Always Be My Baby,” “Emotions,” “We Belong Together” and “Hero.”

Jennifer Hudson did the honors of introducing Carey, who then delivered a funny and earnest speech that didn’t shy away from mentions of “drama,” career “ups and downs” and “a few memes.”

Read Carey’s speech in its entirely below:

“Icon? I really don’t think of myself in that way. I started making music out of a necessity — to survive and to express myself. I just wanted to create something so I could feel worthy of existing. And if I’ve learned anything, anything at all in this life, it’s that truly all things are possible with God.

Without getting into all the drama, all the ups and downs of my career — We’ve all seen them; we all make mistakes; there’s been a few memes — I guess I’ve always felt like an outsider: someone who doesn’t quite belong anywhere. And I still feel like that lost, interracial child who had a lot of nerve to believe I can succeed at anything at all in this world. But, and this is the truth, I did believe because I had to. The truth is: I’ve dedicated my life to my music, my saving grace and to my fans, who are unlike any other entity that I’ve ever known. They’ve lifted me out of the depths of hell and brought me out with their devotion and love.

I want to thank all the people who’ve been with me on this journey through the highs and lows, through the struggles –through your struggles and mine. To anybody who doesn’t allow themselves to be broken, and keeps getting up, and keeps holding on, and keeps standing tall, and keeps on believing, and keeps rising, I celebrate you tonight. And to anyone who’s ever told me that a song I wrote helped save your life, I thank you because you saved mine, and I’ll be eternally grateful.”

Sign Up for Daily Insider Newsletter

Actress, singer and producer Hailee Steinfeld is set to release a new single entitled “Afterlife” on Sept. 19, a track she created for her upcoming Apple TV Plus series,”Dickinson.” “This is a song I’m incredibly proud of, and I feel like after embodying this character, I have a more fearless approach to my writing,” Steinfeld [...]

“Crazy Ex-Girlfriend” star Rachel Bloom made a special announcement after winning her Emmy for best original music and lyrics — she is pregnant. Bloom announced the news backstage on Saturday at the Creative Arts Emmy Awards. She joked she had planned to reveal the news on Instagram but that doing it at the Emmys was even [...]

RuPaul is hoping to take “Drag Race” to every corner of the world. With multiple international versions of the reality competition series on the air, RuPaul was asked at the Creative Arts Emmy Awards on Saturday how many more versions he would like to see. “How many countries are there?” he said. “There are drag [...]

In its pilot installment, CBS’s new drama “Evil” delves into that which may lie beyond the rationally explicable. And the show itself represents something almost supernatural by 2019 standards, too: A well-made hour fueled by chemistry between its leads and a strong idea of itself. On the basis of its debut outing, which screened at [...]

“Free Solo,” “Queer Eye,” “RuPaul’s Drag Race” and “Saturday Night Live” were among the big winners Saturday after the first night of the Creative Arts Emmy Awards at the Microsoft Theater in downtown Los Angeles. “Free Solo,” the National Geographic feature documentary that already claimed the Oscar earlier this year, lead the field on the [...]

The producers and cast of “Mixed-ish” are not out to tell a singular black and white story — but one that showcases and celebrates all shades in between. “It’s important for me across the board in all of my work to talk about ‘otherness’ and identity and real, grounded characters,” showrunner Karin Gist told Variety [...]

“Saturday Night Live” showrunner Lorne Michaels has yet to comment on the racist and homophobic remarks made by newly hired cast member Shane Gillis, but comedians and actors are expressing their condemnation on social media, some even asking that he be fired from the show. Footage of Gillis’s podcast, “Matt and Shane’s Secret Podcast,” was [...]